Columbia River

ECONorthwest recently conducted a study at the request of Vulcan Incorporated that stated while expensive, removing the Columbia and Snake river dams to assist migrating salmon would be worth the investment in the long run.  Both Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dan Newhouse reacted swiftly to the report, calling the study a slap in the face of eastern Washington Ag.  ...

ECONorthwest recently conducted a study at the request of Vulcan Incorporated that stated while expensive, removing the Columbia and Snake river dams to assist migrating salmon would be worth the investment in the long run.  Both Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dan Newhouse reacted swiftly to the report, calling the study a slap in the face of eastern Washington Ag.   ...

The Washington Department of Ecology has fined a Vancouver barge company $18,000 for spilling 40,000 gallons of fertilizer in the Columbia and Snake rivers in April.  The Columbian reports that state investigators found two of Tidewater Barge Lines Inc.'s s...

In an effort to handle the growing harvest in the area, Morrow County Grain Growers has broken ground on an expansion project at its grain elevator and shipping terminal near Boardman.  The $2.5 million project calls for a new rail unloading facility at the terminal.  Th...

Washington’s Governor has comes out in opposition to a bill in Congress that would reduce spill over Columbia and Snake river dams, and prevent the breaching of four Snake River dams.  Jay Inslee said in a letter to House leaders, the legislation would harm ongoing efforts to improve salmon and dam management.  Inslee i...

Earlier this month, Representatives Dan Newhouse and Oregon’s Kurt Schrader led a bipartisan letter urging President Trump to commence negotiations with Canada over the Columbia River Treaty.  The 53 year old treaty has not been revised since it was ratified in 1964.  Newhouse...

The irrigation season is underway across Central and Eastern Washington which means work on the Columbia Basin Project has greatly slowed, but it is ongoing.   Mike Schwisow with the Columbia Basin Development League said coming into this past winter, they had nearly completed working on widening East Low Canal, and finished fashioning three siphons.  ...

A review by the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association said there could be fewer salmon returning this year and next year due to poor decisions made by fish managers.   Darryll Olsen with CSRIA said, “It appears to us that there is such a bias on the part of some of the fish managers, particularly the state-related fish managers, that they want to keep the fish in river no matter what even wh

The Washington Department of Ecology published their final draft of the 2016 Columbia River Supply and Demand Forecast.   The forecast, which is intended to guide all aspects of water management in the Columbia River Basin, show Central and Eastern Washington could see an 18% increase in demand for water, both in municipal and domestic needs.  ...

As the U.S. and Canada Continue to work on ironing out details of the Columbia River Treaty, lawmakers continue to express the importance of the over 50 year old agreement. Cathy McMorris Rodgers says it’s important that interests of the agriculture community are considered during the negotiation talks.  She...